Recent federal actions targeting Washington, DC represent an unprecedented assault on our city's autonomy and the safety of our residents. The deployment of the National Guard, federal control of the DC Metropolitan Police Department, and the withholding of over $1 billion in local funds threaten to undo decades of progress made as well as undermine our autonomy and right to self-govern, as authorized by the United States Congress.
A Pattern of Federal Overreach
The current occupation of DC is the latest in a series of harmful federal actions that disproportionately impact our residents:
Economic Impact: DOGE cuts to federal jobs hit DC and the region’s residents hardest. While the cancellation of fully funded federal contracts and grants disproportionately impacts DC businesses, nonprofits, and DC residents—leading to lay-offs, closures, and fewer jobs and essential services for DC residents.
Fiscal Impact: Despite DC's exceptional fiscal responsibility—maintaining a balanced budget for 20 consecutive years and earning a AAA bond rating for seven straight years—our credit rating was downgraded in April specifically because Congress blocked access to our own local funds.
Community Impact: The federal occupation has created a climate of fear and abuse, especially for Black and Brown communities in our region. Immigrant workers, including delivery drivers, construction, and restaurant workers, face profiling and arrest without due process. Black residents, particularly young people, are targeted by "jump-out squads" conducting illegal searches at Metro stations, basketball courts, and random checkpoints throughout our city.
The combination of our downgraded bond rating, decreased economic activity, and continued restrictions on local funds creates a dangerous financial spiral that could trigger the very outcome we must prevent: a full federal takeover through a control board that would strip away what little self-governance we've fought to maintain.
Local philanthropy has been working overtime since January to stabilize nonprofits and bridge gaps in our social safety net. But the compounding effects of job losses, withdrawn contracts, and systematic abuse of power have created an unprecedented level of urgency.
This Moment Demands Action: Stand with DC
Federal overreach disguised as "safety and beautification" is causing irreparable harm to our city and our people. This assault on DC democracy requires an immediate, focused response to protect targeted communities, stop the takeover and occupation, and preserve and advance democracy for the District of Columbia.
DC's crisis is a national democracy crisis. When the federal government can unilaterally override local governance in the nation's capital, it sets a dangerous precedent for cities across America.
The Stand with DC Emergency Response Fund is mobilizing immediate, strategic interventions to protect our communities and preserve local governance. We are working at the front lines, providing critical support where it's needed most while building the infrastructure for long-term resistance to federal overreach.
Our emergency response will invest in:
legal support and representation
know your rights trainings, narrative building and communications campaigns, and community engagement and organizing
advocacy for DC’s rights to self governance through home rule and eventual statehood
join us to defend democracy where it matters most
Join us in this critical moment. Together, we can protect DC's communities, preserve local governance, and ensure that democracy thrives in the nation’s capital.
For more information on our grantmaking strategy contact: Darius Graham at [email protected].
For grants to the Stand with DC Fund, contact: Chris Howie at [email protected].